


Okay Okay Okay

by Agapostemon



Series: Cardboard Castles [17]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Day At The Beach, Established Relationship, Families of Choice, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, POV Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-24 22:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10750938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agapostemon/pseuds/Agapostemon
Summary: In which Matt proposes with a piece of seaweed.





	Okay Okay Okay

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request for the [75 Followers celebration](https://agapostemon.tumblr.com/post/159694241951/75-follower-ficlet-requests) I did over on Tumblr. This request was "Shiro and Matt, Lie in Our Graves by Dave Matthews Band." This one got a little too long and plot-significant to go in the ficlet collection, so it gets to stand alone.
> 
> Content Warnings: Mature language  
> Timeline: Takes place about a year after [False Start](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9884657/chapters/22165712) (Shiro and Matt have known each other for around a decade and been romantically involved a little over a year)
> 
> Characters and Ages:  
> Shiro - 31  
> Matt - 29

Shiro yelps and nearly jumps sky-high when Matt sneaks up behind him, wrapping his arms around his torso and whispering “hey, come with me” directly into his ear.

“Way to blow my cover!” Matt whines between giggles.

“What cover?” teases Shiro, “We’re in the middle of a beach full of people, more than half of whom know us.” The location they’d selected for their day at the beach is hardly a tourist destination, but it’s a perfect place for their little accumulated family to escape from the world together for an afternoon. A quick glance around reveals Keith and Lance in the midst of a heated beach volleyball match as Sam and Colleen cheer them on. Coran is teaching an enthusiastic young stranger about the surrounding ecosystem while Hunk and Allura help their sibling build a truly impressive sand castle. Pidge is nowhere to be found, which means she probably escaped to some shady corner to browse the internet on her phone. Shiro can’t help but smile at the sight of them all, happy and together.

And then there’s Matt, who’s now taking his hand and dragging him towards the rocky intertidal fishing area to the left of the beach. Which makes Shiro smile even more, because of course Matt would drag him on some weird adventure today. That’s just how Matt is. So he lets himself be dragged along and quietly wonders what his companion is up to this time.

When they reach the edge of the rocky area, Shiro takes his hand back so he has something to balance himself with as he climbs the rocks. “Keep leading the way,” he tells Matt, “but if you think I’m climbing wet rocks with no hands, then I have some news for you.”

“Well then, maybe next time you should bring two arms,” teases Matt.

“Sure,” agrees Shiro with a cheeky smile, “You can clean the sand out of my prosthetic afterwards.”

“The nerve!” Matt gasps indignantly, sticking his tongue out at Shiro before scampering up the rocks (mostly on all fours, Shiro notes with smug amusement).

Shiro follows with significantly more grace and dignity, despite having one less limb than his partner. “So, where exactly are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Matt says, shooting a cryptic smile over his shoulder before picking his way forward through the increasingly-slimy rocks and tide pools of varying sizes. Shiro decides to trust his judgment and follows along until they reach a particularly large tide pool, at which point Matt spins to face him with his arms in the air and a shit-eating grin on his face, “Here we are!”

Shiro raises an eyebrow, “And where, exactly, is here?”

“Uh, this really cool giant tide pool, of course. Duh,” replies Matt, gesturing behind him at the pool in question. It’s larger than most hot tubs, which Shiro has to admit is kind of impressive. But he’s still having some difficulty sharing Matt’s enthusiasm about a several-foot-deep pool of warm salt-water filled with god-knows what.

“I think you get a little more excited about tide pools than I do,” says Shiro with a fond smile.

Matt rolls his eyes, “Just come sit down, okay?” He plops down with his bare feet dangling into the pool and slaps at the wet rock beside him, inviting Shiro to join him.

Shiro rolls his eyes and slides carefully into a sitting position beside his partner, reluctantly lowering his legs into the water. He grimaces, “Why do tide pools always feel like someone peed in them?”

“Probably because someone has,” Matt grins, “but the same goes for the rest of the ocean.”

“No, I mean…”

“I know, I know,” Matt says, “It’s just warm because the sun’s been heating it up." He reaches down and plucks a piece of seaweed out of the pool, rolling it absentmindedly between his fingers. At least, Shiro’s pretty sure it’s seaweed. It looks more like red licorice shoestrings to him.

Shiro makes a face, “I know that, but it’s still gross.”

“Don’t let the ocean hear you calling her gross,” says Matt, “You might hurt her feelings!”

“You’re so weird,” Shiro laughs.

“ _You’re_ so weird,” Matt retorts.

“Y’know what else you are?” asks Shiro.

“What?” Matt asks.

“Sunburnt,” Shiro says, gently running his thumb over Matt’s lobster-red cheek, “When was the last time you applied sunscreen?”

“Uh, this morning?” says Matt.

Shiro lets out something between a sigh and a laugh, “What am I gonna do with you?”

“Kiss me,” replies Matt without missing a beat.

“Well, if you insist,” Shiro says leaning over to plant a peck on his partner’s cheek.

Matt responds by grabbing the shoulder strap of Shiro’s tank top and tugging him into a proper kiss on the lips. The seaweed in his hand tickles Shiro’s neck and sends a shiver down his spine, but the sensation is more surprising than unpleasant. If he’s being honest with himself, it feels kind of nice. Even if it does come from a piece of weird licorice-shoestring seaweed.

Once they separate, Matt returns to fidgeting with his weird seaweed and Shiro kicks his feet slowly through the warm water, staring wordlessly out at the ocean and remembering the softness of Matt’s kiss on his lips.

After a bit, Matt speaks up reflectively, “This is not what 19-year-old Matt thought his life was gonna be like in ten years.”

“Nah?” Shiro says, turning to look at his partner’s face.

“Nah,” Matt shakes his head, “but y’know, if someone gave me a choice between that reality and this one? I think I’d still pick this one.”

Shiro smiles softly, watching as Matt twists his seaweed into assorted loops, “Me too.”

“Yeah?”

Shiro nods, “Yeah.”

“Even though…” Matt’s voice trails off as he reaches an arm around Shiro, tracing his fingers down what remains of his right arm.

Shiro hesitates, then nods, “I like this reality just fine. Doesn’t have to be perfect to be good.”

“I like that,” Matt muses, his voice soft and breathy, “Doesn’t have to be perfect to be good…”

Shiro reaches up to run his fingers through his companion’s salt-encrusted hair, then leans forward to plant a feathery kiss on his forehead. When he pulls back, Matt is staring back up at him with a gleam in his eyes. It’s the same look he gets when he comes up with some ridiculous new project idea.

“What?” Shiro asks with a chuckle.

Matt just shoots him a coy smile and looks back down at his increasingly-mangled piece of seaweed, setting to work tying it into a loop and breaking off the stray ends, leaving him with a single ring of red seaweed.

Shiro raises an eyebrow, “Matt, what on earth are you—”

“We should get married,” Matt interrupts, proudly holding out his seaweed ring with question marks written across his face.

Shiro blinks in surprise, “Wait, is that why you brought me here?”

Matt gives his head a frantic shake, his expression suddenly vulnerable, “Nope. I had no idea I was gonna do this until about two minutes ago. Please answer so I don’t die of anxiety.” The seaweed ring is quivering visibly in his shaky hands.

Shiro can feel his heart beating in his throat and his blood rushing through his ears like he’s on the edge of a panic attack. He gulps for air and scrambles for words, because he imagines Matt is probably fifty times as anxious as he is right now. But words are failing him right now, so all he manages to conjure up is a shaky “okay” as he plucks the seaweed from his partner’s fingers, realizing a moment too late that there’s no way he can put a ring on his own finger with only one hand. And besides, isn’t Matt supposed to put it on for him anyways? Is that how these things go? He can’t quite recall, and black spots are swimming at the edges of his vision.

Matt answers his unspoken question with a watery laugh, gently taking back the ring and doing his best to hold Shiro’s hand steady with his own as he slides the loop of seaweed onto Shiro’s left ring finger. “I dunno if this is the right finger,” he says, his voice cracking, “I’ll uh… look that up later. And get you a real ring, if you want. Sorry. Sorry, I know you don’t like surprises. I hope I didn’t make you too anx—”

Shiro interrupts by knocking their foreheads together, perhaps a little harder than intended, “I love you, Matt.”

With that, Matt bursts into tears and throws his arms around Shiro, sobbing and babbling half-coherent praise into the crook of his neck, “God, Takashi. You’re so good. You’re so good and I love you and—fuck! I love you! Takashi, I love you.”

Which of course is exactly the moment Pidge decides to reappear from wherever she’s spent her day hiding out. “What’d you do to my brother?” she asks, raising both eyebrows in fake suspicion and very real curiosity.

Shiro lets out a soft puff of laughter and holds up his still-quivering hand for Pidge to see, “I think you’re one step closer to being my sister-in-law?”

Pidge responds with a snort, “Oh my god, you guys are so sentimental! Have fun with your sap-fest. Come find us when you’re done being the world’s mushiest brother and almost-brother.” She rolls her eyes and wanders off, but it’s hard to miss the delighted grin on her face as she turns to go.

“No telling the others, okay?” Shiro calls after her, “I wanna see Keith’s reaction.”

Once she’s gone, Shiro wraps his arm around his still-hiccupping fiancé and presses their cheeks together, whispering, “I think we have the Pidge stamp of approval.” Which launches Matt back into a renewed fit of giddy tears. This time Shiro gets dragged down with him, and before long neither of them can tell if they’re laughing or crying anymore.

But it’s okay.

Everything is okay.

Shiro wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> [Ok_but_first_tea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ok_but_first_tea/pseuds/ok_but_first_tea) made and AMAZING illustration for this fic: [Check it out here](https://spot-of-paint.tumblr.com/post/163676543455/so-cardboard-castles-is-amazing-and-i-cannot-get)!
> 
> \-------------
> 
> Also: Please remember that I write purely for fun and catharsis. My fics are unbeta’d and minimally proofread. They’re not perfect, and that’s okay. If you notice something I could fix or improve, please keep those thoughts to yourself. If I genuinely want critique, I’ll ask a close friend in private. **Surprise critiques are very stressful and discouraging.** Thanks for understanding!


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